I have always envied those moms who have the ability to seemingly balance it all while looking fabulous and walking in heels. Finding perfect harmony between working and having a family life is something that I have openly struggled with because I am a workaholic. This became more of a struggle as I engaged upon the entrepreneurial path and found myself home with a toddler who demanded nothing less than all my attention. Frustrated and exhausted something had to give.

Well after struggling for four months I think I have found the solution. While the dictionary defines balance as “a state of equilibrium or equipoise” I on the other hand have realized that balance is varied between people and situations. What may work for my neighbor is not necessarily going to work for me. 

So yes some women may be able to look fabulous and wear heels while seemingly having it all balanced, we do not know what their family or work life is like. Being an entrepreneur is hard work and requires a lot of time. In fact it’s much like being a parent. You need to nurture your business from conception to launch and continue to be an active part of it’s “life.”

So for everyone out there who may be struggling with finding balance is their life understand this: YOU DEFINE YOUR OWN BALANCE.  Find out what works for you and your family and stick with it, because the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Happy Monday!

xoxo

Elle

It never ceases to amaze me that I can call my mom and simply by hearing my voice she could know that something was wrong.

It never ceases to amaze me that even though I am a mother of two myself, when I’m sick the only person that I want…is my mommy.

It never ceases to amaze me the care and effort she puts into doing any task for her children. Whether it be making a lunch or planning a baby shower she always gives every ounce of herself.

It never ceases to amaze me how she always puts others before herself, even now when all her children are old enough to fend for themselves.

It never ceases to amaze me how supportive she is of our dreams, no matter how big or small. No matter how ridiculous or ambitious she always backs us.

It never ceases to amaze me the wealth of information that she has to give for every situation that we may encounter.

Why does this amaze me? Because this woman, this beautiful woman who I call mother was abandoned by her own mother at the age of eight. A young age when most girls need their mom the most…hers left her.

Yet that never stopped her from raising 4 girls and assisting to raise 3 grandchildren and doing a damn good job at it. She has broken a cycle and it is because of her that I am the mother that I am today. She is my angel on earth, my guiding light and although we may have our differences ( especially during the teenaged years lol ) she is my best friend.

I protect her with the same ferocity that she once protected me with. So mom, I want to thank you for being there for every heart break, the birth of the kids, the hard lessons and the joyful blessings. They were all made better because I had you to share them with.

To my beautiful girls, thank you for making me the luckiest mom alive. Sariah Leah & Alaysia Sade you make being a mom a pleasure, a learning experience and best of all it is truly a blessing. 

I love you!

xoxo

Elle

Welcome to day 4 of our May Month of Motivation. I’ll keep this brief because I know it’s Friday and everyone is super excited to start the weekend but there’s one thing that I want you to know…you are enough.

Growing up did you ever have anyone ever tell you that you are enough? I know I didn’t. The focus was always on doing better and being the best that I could be. Now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with pushing ourselves to be the best that we can be but the truth is sometimes we just need to hear that we are enough. Sometimes we need someone to validate that all we have worked so hard to accomplish is noted and recognized.

More than that we need to stop being so hard on ourselves and open our eyes to the plethora of large and small obstacles that we have overcome in this wondrous journey that we call our lives.

So for today’s bit of motivation we are going to do a little exercise. I want you to go to the nearest mirror and say to yourself  ” I am enough.” Anytime you feel sad, depressed, unmotivated or if you’re just having an all around bad day go to a mirror and say ” I am more than enough” because you are.

Have a great weekend!

xoxo

Elle

We’ve entered into the third day in our Month of Motivation and I must admit that I am feeling …horrible. Ok I’ll admit that it’s because I’m fighting a terrible flu but slowing down from my regular hustle and bustle has allowed me to take some time to reflect on just how far I’ve come.

While reflecting the one thing that I have realized is that I have learned to forgive. More than that I have learned the true meaning of forgiveness and the power that it has in our lives. You see while it’s important to talk about the motivation behind being a successful entrepreneur, all of that would mean nil if my personal life was in shambles.

So for day three in our month of motivation we’re discussing forgiveness. It’s phenomenal the power that this ten letter word has isn’t it? When we hold a grudge against someone for something that they’ve done we are handing over the control in our lives to them. We allow them to invade our minds, change our mood and wreak havoc in our bodies by the way of stress. This is how I, like most ladies, felt about my ex.

We met almost ten years ago and I can easily admit that throughout those ten years we probably spent a solid 7 years fighting. What I didn’t realize then was while I would be home angry and frustrated over the custody battles, financial disputes etc every single moment I spent frustrated and angry was a moment that I would never, ever get back. It was a moment that I allowed someone to get the best of me and upset my spirit. A spirit that at the time was already so fragile that should anything else take hold of it…it might have broken.

Fast forward to present day where we can now have civilized, heck even friendly conversations about our daughter and our own separate lives. How did this happen you ask? It all happened after one particularly large argument we had on the phone where it ended with both of us screaming and eventually hanging up in pure unadulterated hatred. I took a deep breath, prayed about it and called him back. While I won’t go into detail about the conversation the important thing was that I told him I forgave him for everything that happened in the past and from this moment on I would be moving forward with a clean slate. There was no hostility in my voice, no anger all that there was was a deep profound sense of peace. It was as if all those years of negativity had been lifted and the veil removed.

The reason that I share this deeply personal story now is because I know a lot of you women out there are going through the same thing. Maybe it’s with your ex or your child’t father. Maybe it’s with a family member. Regardless of who it is or what situation you are angry at -you need to let it go.

There’s a quote from the Oprah show that says, “Forgiveness is giving up the hope that the past could be any different.” The past has happened and reliving it with animosity in your heart is detrimental to you and every one of your five senses. Your life has more value than anyone could ever put a price on so why would you keep anything inside that has the potential to harm you? It’s not about them, it’s about YOU and how much YOU value YOUR LIFE. Do you value it enough to be willing to forgive them whether it be by calling them, writing a letter that you rip up after or praying about it. You have to do it for no one else but yourself.

So now I ask this question…Is there anyone that you need to forgive that you haven’t? Remember to post your answer to the comment section!

xoxo

Elle

Hello my beloveds,

As we enter into May and the second quarter of the new year I am feeling blessed, optimistic and above all MOTIVATED!

While I want to make excuses as to why I haven’t been blogging the truth is they would be just that…excuses. So I’m vowing to write a blog a day for the month of May and I am so excited to do it! ( That just happened to rhyme lol)

I’m declaring May the month of MOTIVATION so all my blogs will be centered around helping you to live the life that you deserve. Tips, tools, advice and inspiration are in store so I hope that you are ready to receive.

For today’s bit of motivation I want you all to join me in making a list of goals that you want to achieve for the month of May. It’s something that I do every day on the first of the month and I find that it helps me stay focused.

Here’s my vow to myself ( and to you):

- to workout every single day

- to blog every single day

- to inspire one person to make a positive change in their life

- to forgive someone who has done me wrong

That’s my list. You can list yours below in the comment section. Let’s all work together to achieve our goals.

Happy May!

xoxo

Elle